It is well known to use equipment racks for mounting and supporting multiple equipment modules. For example, 19-inch racks are widely used in modern data centers, ISP facilities and corporate server rooms for mounting and supporting various equipment modules, including computing, telecommunication, audio, and/or video equipment. Similarly, a 23-inch rack is standardized to accommodate wider equipment modules. More recently, the Open Compute Project (OCP) initiated by Facebook calls for an OCP rack that has the same outside dimensions as a conventional 19-inch rack, but allows for wider equipment modules to fit within the overall footprint of a 19-inch rack.
In general, an OCP rack mountable product (e.g., network switch, server, data storage system, etc.) is designed without an integral power supply. Instead, the product is powered by a central power distribution system (PDS) of the OCP rack. The product is electrically connected to the PDS via bus bars (e.g., a 12 VDC bus bar and a ground bus bar) located along the rear of the OCP rack. The product may be electrically connected to the rack bus bars via “flying lead” power cables, which are secured by lugs, screws, nuts and the like. And more recently, the products may include a specialized blind-mate bus bar clip that is compatible with the bus bars of an OCP rack. For example, the products may include a specialized clip such as the OCP Connector provided by Methode Electronics, Inc. of Chicago, Ill.
Unless the product is installed in the OCP rack, however, the product cannot be readily turned on. As such, a technician or a user generally must install the product on an OCP rack in order to use the product. And one will appreciate that when a only one or two products are to be used, it may be overkill to devote an entire OCP rack to support and power just one or two products, especially in light of the fact that OCP racks include several “innovation zones” that are each sized at 10 OpenUs and are capable of supporting a number of products.
Furthermore, it may be impracticable or even impossible to have the product installed in an OCP rack. For example, an OCP rack may not be available during product field tests and/or during beta tests at customer sites. Similarly, it may be impracticable or even impossible to install the product in an OCP rack during various product development stages, for example, during hardware “bring up”, while testing the product on a bench table, during engineering validation tests where the product is placed in an environmental chamber or on a shaker, etc. In such instances, it may be impracticable or impossible to place an OCP rack atop a bench table, inside an environmental changer, or mounted on a shaker.
And Since OCP rack-mountable products rely on the use of the central PDS of an OCP rack, it is inconvenient for both manufacturers and customers to perform out-going product function checks before shipping and/or incoming product function checks after receiving by installing and uninstalling the product on an OCP rack.
In order to power a product that is not installed in an OCP rack, a user must find an alternative DC power supply and somehow connect the product to the alternative DC power supply. This is often done using “flying lead” power cables to interconnect the product and the DC power supply secured by lugs, screws, nuts and the like. This approach has several problems. First, there is a high possibility of damaging the product by wrong polarity power connection due to lack of key-lock polarity connection. Second, the use of “flying lead” cables may lead to power loss and low efficiency due to the resistance of the cables. Third, there are significant safety and liability issues due to the nature of unmanaged cables and exposed lug connections. And fourth, tools are generally required to secure the cables, thus requiring a user to carry screwdrivers, wrenches and/or other tools to connect the cables.
In light of the foregoing, it would be beneficial to have a portable power supply which overcomes the above and other disadvantages of powering equipment-rack mountable products.